Secondary Navigation

About Swedish

The community is invited to enjoy holiday festivities with pediatric patients – a teddy bear clinic, caroling, holiday games and crafts – on Sunday, Dec. 8

SEATTLE — December 4, 2013 — Swedish and F5 Networks team up for the fourth year in a row to spread holiday cheer at this year’s Holidays at the Hospital. Swedish expects more than 400 guests, including pediatric patients, Swedish and F5 Networks staff, along with the broader community at Swedish/First Hill.

Taking place on Dec. 8, 2013, the event will include caroling, face painting, a teddy-bear clinic, holiday games, crafts and cookie decorating throughout the afternoon. Roger Levesque of the Seattle Sounders and Santa Claus will make a celebrity appearance.

“Every year we look forward to hosting Holidays at the Hospital,” said Dr. Guy Hudson, Swedish pediatric surgeon. “The hospital isn’t exactly the first place kids want to be during the holidays. This event helps to bring holiday cheer and some comforts of home to them.”

The event is open to the public. Those who wish to contribute but cannot attend can support the Holidays at the Hospital toy drive by donating toys, games and art supplies. Donated items will be given to Swedish patients, up to age 18, who are spending the holidays at the hospital.

Swedish Issaquah One of Only 90 Hospitals in The Nation to Receive The Quality Care Designation From The Leapfrog Group

SEATTLE — In its first year of eligibility Swedish Medical Center’s Issaquah campus has earned the distinction as one of the ‘Top Hospitals’ in the nation at providing the highest quality of patient care, according to The Leapfrog Group’s annual survey of more than 1,300 hospitals. The designation, which was awarded to only two hospitals in Washington state, was announced by The Leapfrog Group yesterday at its annual meeting in Washington, D.C.

Swedish Issaquah, which opened in 2012, is one of only 55 urban hospitals named as a ‘Top Hospital’ by Leapfrog, which also recognized 22 top rural hospitals and 13 top children’s hospitals. Widely cited as the nation’s most competitive hospital quality award, the Top Hospitals designation recognizes hospitals that deliver the highest quality care by preventing medical errors, reducing mortality for high-risk procedures and reducing readmissions for patients being treated for conditions like pneumonia and heart attack. Top Hospitals have lower infection rates, higher survival rates for high-risk procedures, decreased length of stay and fewer readmissions.

Rapid round-the-clock efforts allow Swedish/Edmonds to restore all services after a fire in electrical room knocked out power to some parts of the hospital

Edmonds, Wash. — November 27, 2013 — Swedish Edmonds today restored the last of services that were knocked out due to a fire in the hospital’s electrical room on November 21. The fire was under control within 30 minutes from when firefighters arrived and none of them were injured. One employee and two contractors were evaluated and treated for smoke inhalation that evening.

The fire damaged the main electrical lines preventing back-up power from reaching parts of the hospital. Immediately after the fire was extinguished, 40 percent of the facility had power. Today, 95 percent of the hospital has electricity. Swedish Edmonds continues to run 14 commercial generators.

“We are very fortunate that the response was swift and organized which allowed services to be restored safely and so quickly,” said David Jaffe, chief executive at Swedish Edmonds. “Fortunately, we only needed to move 35-40 patients to other parts of the hospital at the time of the fire. The entire Edmonds team did a remarkable job. During the incident, 11 emergency room patients were transferred to Providence Regional Medical Center Everett and one OB patient in labor was transported to Swedish Ballard.”

The emergency department never closed but patients transported by ambulance were diverted to other facilities through Saturday evening.

SEATTLE — A first-time partnership between Swedish Orthopedic Institute, nonprofit Project Access Northwest and local physicians is giving 11 local patients life-changing orthopedic care as part of a nationwide campaign known as Operation Walk USA during the week of Dec. 2-7, 2013.

Painful joints, whether caused by chronic conditions such as arthritis, an injury, or a lifetime of wear and tear, can be a significant barrier to living a healthy and productive life. For many uninsured or underinsured patients, these conditions are a sentence to a lifetime of pain, frustration and dependency.

“The hip is so bad now that it’s difficult to walk, difficult to sleep,” said Gregory Arnold, Seattle resident and recipient of a right hip replacement. “I can hardly imagine what it will be like to be able to walk again. It will extend my life by years.”

KOMO News has posted a story on the recent premarket approval by the Food & Drug Administration of a device designed to detect and treat epilepsy.

The story quotes Ryder Gwinn, M.D., medical director of the Swedish Neurosciences Institute Center for Neuromodulation and Functional Restoration

Testing on the NeuroPace device began in 2004 and was conducted throughout the United States, including the Swedish Neuroscience Institute. Today, Swedish is the only center in the Pacific Northwest approved to implant the device.

The March of Dimes, Swedish Medical Center Foundation and Sorrento Hotel team up to deliver Thanksgiving meals to the NICU

WHAT: While most Seattle families spend this time of year preparing their annual Thanksgiving feast, for parents of premature babies still in the hospital, a holiday dinner is an afterthought. Tomorrow, November 26, from 5:00 to 8:00 p.m., the Sorrento Hotel will bring a delicious Thanksgiving meal to families spending the holiday with their babies in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) at Swedish/First Hill.

WHY: Families spending Thanksgiving in the hospital have babies born too soon or too ill to go home. A Thanksgiving meal gives them a moment to relax and enjoy the holiday during this stressful time. The event was made possible thanks to generous donations from former NICU Graduate Families and Sorrento Hotel in collaboration with the March of Dimes NICU Family Support Program and the Swedish Foundation.

On Thursday, November 21, the Swedish Edmonds campus experienced a fire isolated in a lower-level, mechanical room at or about 7 PM.

No injuries are reported. Swedish Edmonds medical staff and emergency personnel have acted quickly to ensure the safety of all patients and medical staff.

There is smoke damage at the hospital, resulting in a partial patient evacuation, with transfers expected to both Swedish Ballard and Providence Everett facilities. We have confirmed that 11 patients from the Swedish Edmonds Emergency Department have been transferred to Providence Everett, and 1 OB patient to Swedish Ballard.

We are currently still confirming if additional patient transfers will be necessary. Current power outages in the hospital are not affecting patient safety.

(11/22/13 7:30 AM) Update: The majority of Swedish Edmonds is running on power. A portion of the hospital is currently without power. Patient safety is not affected at this time. Hospital staff and leaders continue to work quickly to restore power to all parts of the Swedish Edmonds campus.

(11/22/13 9:20 AM) Update: The Emergency Department is open. Patients and families who have questions about patients or any scheduled procedures for today (November 22) should first contact Swedish/Edmonds main switchboard at 425-640-4000.

(11/22/13 7:35 PM) Update: Additional generator capacity at Swedish Edmonds is in place and being gradually brought online to address the areas of the hospital currently without power. Site managers continue to prioritize patient care and services as they allocate power to meet Swedish Edmonds needs.